“Now, if that ain’t enough, just let me know,” she said. “We’ll bring you some more.”

Wait. That’s not your mom. But who else would bring you food like this? The folks at The Mecca, that’s who.

“You’re not at IHOP,” said waitress Melissa Hagen, who in typical Mecca style serves up home-style dishes with a side of sass.

For 44 years, the landmark diner has anchored a desolate stretch of Harry Hines Boulevard in northwest Dallas, offering a beacon of hope to those seeking culinary comfort.

Throughout the years, tables have teemed with families, employees from nearby Dallas Love Field, attorneys in sport coats and mechanics in dog-dirty jumpsuits.

But within a month, The Mecca will pack up its homey memorabilia, shutter its doors and reopen at a new location in Lakewood.

Employees agree the move makes sense for the 74-year-old restaurant. Despite being featured last year on chef Emeril Lagasse’s show The Originals, The Mecca has struggled as its clientele has aged or vanished with businesses closures and demographic changes.

Bit by bit, pieces of history will be plucked from The Mecca’s shelves and walls — the showcase dinner plates; the little jackalope that still terrifies the kids, and the photo of original owner Frances Redding in her Texas Longhorns wear.

Already in transit are many of The Mecca’s signature college banners, with a stop at the dry cleaners en route.

But The Mecca’s planned Aug. 17 opening at the corner of Skillman and Live Oak streets also puts it biscuit to biscuit with another Dallas mainstay — the Goldrush Cafe, whose no-frills operation has developed its own loyal following over the last 32 years.

Will it be a fight to the greasy-spoon death? Or can the two duke it out long-term in the same way that Pat’s and Geno’s cheesesteak operations have managed to battle on a Philadelphia street corner for years?

“I know they’ve got a reputation, but so do we,” said co-owner George Sanchez of the Goldrush, whose patrons have been known to linger as if at Grandma’s house.

“We all have our own little clientele. The Mecca will have theirs. It’s good for the neighborhood all the way around.”

For Mike Sealy, who bought The Mecca five years ago, the move is a no-brainer.

The 6,400-square-foot, green-awning restaurant, housed in an aging, former two-story home surrounded by taquerias and automotive shops, had seen its clientele diminish ever since the DART expansion forced the closure of many local businesses.

While The Mecca drinks up a healthy weekend rush, weekdays are syrupy slow, with barely a few patrons around to enjoy the daily BBQ brisket or turkey-and-dressing specials.

While a number of Mexican restaurants have opened in answer to the area’s growing Hispanic population, it’s a group that largely hasn’t patronized The Mecca.

And the condition of the building itself, manager Cheryl Hurt said, has worsened through the years.

“We’re running out of duct tape,” she said. “We can either die here or we can move.”

Sealy first eyed a couple of Northwest Highway locations but couldn’t make a deal. Two more options on Lower Greenville didn’t work out either.

That’s how he ended up checking out the former Molly Maguire’s spot in Lakewood, which is 500 square feet smaller than the current spot — or about the size of one of The Mecca’s legendary cinnamon rolls.

Customers understand the move but aren’t happy about it. Some said they’d go to the new site only if they happened to be in the Lakewood neighborhood; others said they’d try to make the trek on weekends.

“I wish it was a little closer,” said mechanic Mike Cornelius of Garland, a regular lunch patron. “They gotta do what they gotta do to make money.”

“If they weren’t moving, I would probably come here every day,” said Jason Parrott, a Roanoke resident attending nearby Parker University who’d visited for the first time the day before and was already back for more.

Other customers have included singer Randy Travis, television’s Dr. Phil — “He comes here every time he’s in town to see his mother,” Hurt said — and a handful of former Dallas Cowboys. Walt Garrison paid a visit just last week.

Some have come for the cherry-filled bread pudding, made with the restaurant’s cinnamon rolls.

Jennifer Hagood, a retired flight attendant who’s been a customer for 37 years, is partial to The Mecca’s cornbread and recalled braised short ribs “that would make you cry.”

“People have been coming here forever,” Hagood said. “They knew what they were going to get here. Mama’s in the kitchen.”

Hurt said it’s not just the food that makes the place special.

“The food you can get anywhere,” she said. “But you go to Denny’s and everybody wears the same thing. Here it’s like being in your kitchen and laughing and having a good time.”

The Goldrush’s Sanchez said that’s the kind of thing that makes the two institutions similar. “We’re real neighbor-friendly,” he said. “We know all our customers by name.”

He said he welcomed the competition, though he wasn’t sure how things would work out.

“I think there’s enough room here for everybody,” he said. “And if there isn’t, there isn’t.”

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